Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artist: Francesco Manna
Color Artist: Erick Arciniega
Cover Artist: Kendrick “Kunkka” Lim
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Now that Carnage has his weapon, he’s got the powers from the other supervillains, he has a new host. He has everything he needs to go on a cosmic massacre across the stars. But Kenneth Neely is talking to the one man who knows Carnage inside and out – Cletus Kasady. Read Carnage #11 to see if Neely survives his encounter with Kasady and can convince him to do the impossible.
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Review:
The comic continues with Kenneth Neely meeting the man, the myth, the bloody legend himself – Cletus Kasady in the flesh. Of course, Kasady is anything but impressed with Neely and their entire interaction is what drives this comic issue. Even though Carnage has everything he needs (because Kasady identifies the symbiote as a ‘he’ apparently), we don’t really see any of that action here.
The irony is that the portion with Carnage is the weakest part of this issue at least. It’s pretty short and its focus is more on Detective John Shayde who’s been chosen as the new host for Carnage, even though the decision is pretty weird, and not in a good way. Shayde tries to fight back of course, his resistance is very short-lived as you’d expect when it comes to Carnage. From there, the portion of the comic with Carnage is over as soon as it starts and the comic moves on with the story.
Now, the real meat of this comic book is the “conversation” between Kenneth Neely and Cletus Kasady. These two are the stars of this comic and it seems like they will be for the rest of the series by the end. But let’s back up talk about their interaction: it’s a mixed bag. There are moments in the comic where there’s genuine tension as to what Cletus is going to do to Neely and just how much more crazier will the madman drive Neely. The interaction between them is fun and there are funny and some scary moments here and there, but that’s where it ends.
However, the rest of their interaction is unfortunately disappointing and is pretty much expository recap of how Cletus Kasady gained his new state of being and why he split from Carnage. It’s mainly recap for the Extreme Carnage mini-crossover event that Marvel Comics did last year. That aside, there is one cool bit of character intrigue that’s introduce in this part of the comic by Neely: What is Cletus Kasady without Carnage and vice versa?
See, it presents the fact that Cletus Kasady and Carnage are practically synonymous with each other in-universe and among fans. They’re inseparable that way, to many you don’t one without the other. Since the series has been exploring what makes Carnage what he is without Cletus Kasady, this issue presents the same but with Cletus Kasady. And by the end it seems like the following issues will take a stab at trying to explore this dichotomy between them.
Final Thoughts:
Carnage #11 picks up where it left off with Carnage having everything it could want, and Kenneth Neely trying to convince Cletus Kasady to stop Carnage. The real meat of the comic is Neely and Kasady and their “conversation” in the comic. It has a little bit of tension as you’re left wondering what Kasady will do to Neely, and there’s even a couple of humorous moments too. But it gets dragged down with some exposition that’s somewhat necessary but feels like it should’ve been introduced earlier in the series to inform readers. But the end leaves on an interesting note as more mayhem is bound to follow.